National Weather Service: Tornado touched down near Monroe

The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down just south of Monroe on Monday evening as severe storms swept through the Charlotte region.

“We’ve gotten the reports and we have seen some videos – it does look like it was a tornado,” said Jake Wimberly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Greer, S.C.

[FORECAST: Rain expected to taper off Tuesday, return Wednesday]

The tornado touched down in Union County just south of Monroe between 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., Wimberly said.

Union County officials said the twister touched down along Jug Broome Road, near the Altan community. Emergency management reported a number of trees blown down, along with damage to a shed and vehicles.

WBTV, the Observer’s news partner, aired photo and a video shot from a car, showing an apparent tornado near N.C. 207 and Jack Davis Road.

Wimberly said preliminary reports indicate the tornado was minor, although meteorologists have not had a chance to fully assess the storm. It showed up on weather radar for just a short period before the storm broke up.

“We would have to survey the damage to know how to classify the intensity,” he said. “It looks like it was not very strong.”

Wimberly said meteorologists have seen video of the funnel cloud aired by Charlotte-area news stations.

Although tornadoes are typically associated with strong summer storms, Wimberly said a tornado in December is not unheard of in other parts of the country.

“Typically when the weather starts to get active with storms going into the winter, those systems can produce outbreaks of severe weather, much like you saw happen across the country last week,” he said.

The weather front that caused the tornado was responsible for a wide difference in temperatures much of Monday afternoon. At mid-afternoon it was more than 20 degrees warmer in Charlotte than in Winston-Salem.

The cold front, which moved through Charlotte around sunset, is expected to push back northward Tuesday.

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 6:19 PM with the headline "National Weather Service: Tornado touched down near Monroe."